Faculty of Education and Business Studies

Department of Business and Economics Studies

Cross-cultural management in international construction projects:

Case study of China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc.

Yuan Liu 870621-T458

You Li 881228-T270

Second Cycle

Spring 2013

Supervisor:

Professor Aihie Osarenkhoe

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ABSTRACT
Title: Cross-cultural management in international construction projects: Case study of
China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc.

Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration

Author: Yuan Liu, You Li

Supervisor: Aihie Osarenkhoe

Examinor: Maria Fregidon-Malama

Date: 2014.04.18

Aim: This study presents the characteristic and current status of the international
construction projects, and figure out which barriers caused by cross-cultural
differences the multinational corporations and enterprise would face, as well as the
solutions for these barriers.

Method: This study was carried out by using a qualitative and quantitative research
method. We gathered relevant information by conducting questionnaire to Chinese
employees working in Congo, Rep and interviews which include four managers of
China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc (CMICGI). By comparing the
literature review and finding, we find barriers caused by cross cultural differences and
relevant solutions.

Result & Conclusions: Through the literature review associating with the analysis of
the questionnaire and interview, we find out that there are nine barriers in the project,
the reason why they appeared and how them influence the projects. We also find
solutions to solve the barriers.

Suggestions for future research: This study restricted to geographical and time, it
only included one company and one country. More cases can be concluded in future
research.

Contributions for the study: The study results show how barrier case of
cross-cultural different impact in international construction project. We also
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contribute the evaluation for each barrier. Cultural differences between multinational
trading are frequently neglected by firms but have a significant impact. Our research
can help more companies to find some problems which they usually ignored.

KEYWORDS — Cross-cultural management, Barriers, Cross-cultural difference,

International construction projects, Identification, Evaluation

Content
1. Introduction..............................................................................................1
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 1.1 Background......................................................................................2

1.2 Problem............................................................................................4

1.3 Purpose and Research Questions.................................................... 4

1.4 Limitation........................................................................................ 5

2. Literature review......................................................................................6

2.1 How cross-culture influences the business..................................... 6

2.2 Cross cultural management........................................................... 10

2.2.1 Identify barriers caused by cross cultural differences......... 11

2.2.2 Managing barriers caused by cross cultural differences......13

2.3 Summary........................................................................................15

3. Methodology..........................................................................................16

3.1 Mixed-methods Research method.................................................16

3.2 Case study......................................................................................19

3.3 Data Collection Method................................................................ 19

3.3.1 Literature review.................................................................. 20

3.3.2 Interview...............................................................................21

3.3.3 Questionnaire........................................................................22

3.4 Date Analysis Framework............................................................. 24

3.5 Validity and Reliability..................................................................25

4. Findings................................................................................................. 27

4.1 The information of case company and case projects.................... 27

4.2 Cross culture management in the case project..............................28

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 4.2.1 The barriers caused by cross cultural differences which the

case project faces...........................................................................29

4.2.2 The evaluation of barriers in the case project...................... 34

4.2.3 The solutions for barriers used in the case project.............. 39

5. Analysis & Discussion.......................................................................... 43

5.1 Cross cultural management in international construction project 43

5.2 Identify barriers caused by cross cultural differences.................. 46

5.3 Evaluation of barriers caused by cross cultural differences......... 48

5.4 Solutions for barriers caused by cross cultural differences.......... 51

6. Conclusion:............................................................................................ 56

6.1 Results & Conclusions.................................................................. 56

6.2 Significance & Implications..........................................................57

6.2.1Theoretical Significance........................................................57

6.2.2 Management Implication..................................................... 57

6.2.3 Social Implication.................................................................58

6.3 Further Research............................................................................58

Reference................................................................................................... 59

Appendix I Questionnaire (Chinese).........................................................67

Appendix II Questionnaire (English)........................................................ 71

Appendix III Interview Questions.............................................................76

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1. Introduction
With the fast-growing international trade and developments, the construction industry
has been provided new opportunities by the World Trade Organization agreements
(WTO, 2013) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC, 2013).
Large-scale projects are no longer local events but international affairs involving
parties of different nations by sophisticated communication technologies, advanced
project management, and by profits attraction (Chan, 1997; Ofori, 2000).

Especially in developing countries, international construction business grows rapidly.

According to Engineering News Record (ENR, 2013), the turnover of biggest 225
international contractors is 310247 million dollars in 2007 and 390008 million in
2008, and grows 38.24% and 25.71% year-on-year. Due to the international financial
crisis, the growth of international construction projects business turns out to be slow,
and the year-on-year growth is only 0.40% and -0.30% in 2009 and 2010. Among the
225 contractors, the turnovers in European, Asian and Australia markets are top three,
and 63.4% of sales come from companies in the three areas in 2010. From the view of
industry, the turnovers of transportation, oil chemical industry and construction are
largest, which contribute 73.3% of all turnovers of the 225 contractors.

According to the Global Construction Perspective and Oxford Economics (2011), the
market value of global construction market is about $7.5 trillion and accounts for
13.4% Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) of whole world in 2008, and would be about
$12.7 trillion and accounts for 14.6% GDP of whole world in 2020 as predicted. With
the recovery of global economy, international construction and engineering
contracting market will walk out of the recession and continue to grow. In the future,
there is still a broad space for development of international construction.

We would choose a project of Chinese company which located in The Republic of

Congo (Congo, Rep) to do our research. Congo, Rep located in West Africa. It covers

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a territorial area of 342 thousand square kilometers and the population is 4.04 million
in 2010. According to Congo, Rep customs statistics, China's total trade volume is in
the first of their foreign trade, which number is 1.43815 trillion Central African CFA
franc (XAF) ($3.027 billion), accounting for 37.88% (Ifeng, 2012). The statistics of
China's ministry of commerce show that, until the end of 2011, the sum of new
signing international construction projects among Chinese companies and the Congo,
Rep is $464 million and turnover of contracts is $372 million. Chinese companies
occupy a half of international construction project market in Congo, Rep. (Ifeng,
2012). So the Chinese companies have enough experience to do the international
construction project in Congo, Rep.

1.1 Background
When the contractor, the lead consultant, or the employers in a project do not come
from the same country, and at least one of them is working outside his or her own
country, the project is an international construction project (Stebblings, 1998). In the
international construction project, the employees working out of their countries are
the precondition, so in the project there are at least two different national cultures. The
construction industry is complex. Construction companies from developed countries
help the developing countries to do construction projects and get through the
difficulties (Chan, 2003). International construction project often involves both
developed and developing country, having different economic base, different
education level and different social structure. Sometimes there is huge culture
difference in the international construction project.

Other cultures have always been considered worse than the local culture. For example,
the people living in north of China think their traditional culture is better than the one
of south while the people living in south have the opposite feeling. “People in these
cultures tend to protect themselves and monitor others, and to celebrate and honor
people who, against their basic nature, do extremely good things” (Distfano &
Maznevski, 2003). The misunderstanding always causes the barriers from the

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beginning. Managers and employees need to know the laws and social customs of the
different countries. All in all, to know the different operation modes of businesses and
the life-styles of people around the world is necessary (Darling & Fogliasso, 1999).

In the global context, the use of international contract project is increasingly

widespread. International Management derives from both: Strategic Management and
Cross-cultural Management disciplines. As a part of International Business field,
International Management utilizes concepts from its other components, International
Trade in particular (Rozkwitalska & Gdańska, 2009). When the projects progressing,
the barriers caused by cultural differences rise from time to time.

The barriers have many aspects. All the above-mentioned areas are influenced by
cross cultural differences. Prepare environmental analysis needs to be completed
before starting the internationalization strategy. One of the dimensions that must be
scrutinized is the cultural environment. The barriers caused by the cross-cultural
differences are one of the most important barriers in an international construction
project, due to the different cultures in countries that participant in this project (Chan
& Tse, 2003). These barriers may affect the smooth implementation and performance
of the project. According to Rapaille (2001), cross-cultural difference is the core
problem when an enterprise does the international business and management, because
it would lead to problems and even make the international business fail.

Less-developed and developing areas can get particular benefit from the international
collaboration. In the globalized economy, this business method offers an opportunity
to develop products using the most up-to-date expertise and knowledge in a
cost-effective manner (Clark and Ip, 1999). International projects often involve more
parties, requiring a longer time span but having faster pace (Chan, 2003). Even though
International construction project can bring benefit to both developed and developing
countries, it also meets barriers, and cross cultural difference is one of them.

There are also some problems about doing business in developing countries.
According to (Luiz, 2006), in Sub Saharan Africa, the economy is developing very

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fast but the bribes is a big problem. It would take some unexpected cost. Long et al.
(2004) do a case study about which barriers would meet when doing a large
construction project in developing country. They conclude five top rank barriers:
designer and contractor barriers, estimation and management barriers social and
technological barriers, site related barriers and techniques and tools barriers.

1.2 Problem

According to the background, we could find problems in international construction

projects and cross-cultural research. The international construction projects are often
in the developing countries, so we may meet problems because of the
less-development. Another problem is the projects happen between two countries and
it will cause cross-cultural conflicts. According to the background, we also find that
the most of the researches about cross-cultural management do not focus on the
specific barriers and problems, so in our study we are going to focus on figuring out
the certain barriers or problems which could influence the international construction
projects.

1.3 Purpose and Research Questions

Since the purpose of this paper is to analyze barriers caused by cross-cultural conflict,
and give some theoretical basis and beneficial recommendations to later international
engineering contract projects. As it can help to improve the actual situation of
cross-cultural and multinational management capabilities, multinational corporations
and enterprise can get some useful knowledge from this study.

This study discusses the characteristic and current status of the international
engineering contract projects, and analyses barriers caused by cross-cultural
differences the multinational corporations and enterprise would face. The two
research questions are summarized as:
 What are the barriers caused by cross-cultural differences in international
construction projects?
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 How to manage the barriers caused by cross-cultural differences in international
construction projects?
To answer these two questions, firstly a theoretical review of international engineering
contract projects, cross-culture in business and management will be discussed. Later
we will propose possible barriers that may be caused by cross-cultural differences
according to theories. Based on the barriers, then we will set up questionnaires and
interview to employees in The First Construction Company of China Machinery
Industry Construction Group Inc., who are working in different international
construction projects all over the world. The aim is to study if cross-culture barriers
do exist in practical international engineering contract project. At last we will put
forward solutions for these barriers.

1.4 Limitation

There are many problems in international construction projects, but in our study, it
will be limited in the barriers and problems which are caused by the cross-cultural
difference. It includes which mainly barriers or problems would be met, how the
barriers and problems could influences the projects and how to solve the barriers and
problems.

Our study also would be limited in the CMICGI’s Djiri water plant project in Congo,
Rep. The CMICGI has many experiences about cross-cultural management, and they
also has worked in Congo, Rep for two years. Congo, Rep has got assistance from all
over world, for example, from 2000 to 2009 it gets more than 100 billion Central
African CFA franc ( XAF ) assistance from European Union, most of which are used
into the international construction projects (MOFCOM, 2011). The respondents and
interviewees would only be the Chinese employees, because we want to find out the
problems and barriers which companies and people come from the foreign countries
would meet, as well as how they could deal with the problems and barriers.

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2. Literature review
In this chapter, we firstly research how the cross-culture influences business and the
cross-cultural management by the articles and books. We also research how to identify
barriers caused by cross cultural differences and how to manage those barriers.

2.1 How cross-culture influences the business

“A customary term for such mental software is culture” (Hofstede et al., 2010). In
narrow sense, culture means education, art, and literature which are results of
refinement of civilization. In social anthropology, culture is not only activities
supposed to refine the mind, but also the menial and ordinary things in daily life, such
as what food or color the people like. Farmer and Richman (1965) treat culture as “a
major variable in determining both managerial and organizational effectiveness”. The
culture would affect the elements of management process, and as a result, affect the
management and managerial effectiveness, then influence the efficiency of the whole
organization,

However, cultures are diversity all around the world, which would lead to cross
cultural differences. Cross cultural difference which could be influenced by group
differences in climate, geography, history, politics, economics, and the way of coping
with such environmental differences is the difference in attitude or behavior among
different nationals or subgroups (Weber & Hsee, 1999). As culture plays such an
important role in business, failure of managing cross cultural differences would lead
to great loss. According to Søderberg et al. (2000), managing cultural differences
judiciously will bring competitive advantage and even organizational health.

Williams et al. (1998) states seven environments to represent the sources of culture:
physical environment, social environment, political environment, operational
environment, economical environment, legal environment and cognitive environment.
Physical environment is mainly about nature disaster, landscape, etc. Social

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environment is concerned with “the changes in people’s values, human behavior and
state of social structures” (Tchankova, 2002, pp 294). Political environment cares
about the action of the ruling party. Operational environment is about the environment
in operational activities, such as working conditions. Economic environment causes
barriers through economic recession, or interest rate. The legal environment impact
the project through laws, and different legal standards will cause conflict also in an
international business. Cognitive environment will lead to conflicts because
perception and reality differs from person to person.

Wild and Wild (2012) study the problem from another point of view. They propose
eight main components of culture which have influences on business, as shown in
figure 2.2: aesthetics, values and attitudes, manners and customs, social structure,
religion, personal, communication, education, and physical and material environment.

Figure 2.1 Components of Culture

Aesthetics
Physical &Material Values &
Environment Attitudes

Manners &
Education Culture
Customs

Personal Social
Communication Structure
Religion

Source: Wild and Wild, 2012, pp.69

Personal communication: Different cultures have different communication systems

to convey knowledge, feelings, thoughts, and information through writing, speech and
action (Wild & Wild, 2012). It means people often pass their information through
language and body language. Body language is a communication way without

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speaking, and it can be facial expressions, gestures, physical greetings, eye contact,
and manipulation of personal (Wild & Wild, 2012). Understanding the language
means you get the key to understand the culture.

Value & Attitudes: The value is ideas, beliefs, and customs to which people are
emotionally attached, and it can be reflected by the attitudes (Wild & Wild, 2012).
Attitudes can directly influence the time, work and culture change (Wild & Wild,
2012). In generally, different culture value has been thought one of the reasons for
cultural differences in conflict situations (Ohbuchi et al., 1999). According to Muriithi
and Crawford (2003), value differs greatly among more developed countries and less
developed countries. Jaeger and Kanungo (1990) also claim that uncritically transfer
management theories and techniques based on value system in more developed
countries contribute to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the context of less
developed countries. Value reflects on many aspects. For example, collectivists think
the group goals are more important than the personal goals when they make
discussion, but individualists focus more on their own interests (Ohbuchi et al., 1999).
Chinese managers have been proved more disposed to an avoidant style than western
managers in some studies (Morris et al., 1998).

Manners & Customs: “Manners is the appropriate ways of behaving, speaking, and
dressing in culture and customs is the habits or ways of behaving in specific
circumstances are passed down through generations in culture” (Wild & Wild, 2012,
pp. 73).Understanding manners and customs is important when dealing with business
in other cultures. At least, it can help managers avoid offending people or making
embarrassing mistakes. In-depth knowledge of manners and customs can even
improve the ability of effective marketing, international operations management and
negotiations in other cultures (Wild & Wild, 2012).

Social Structure: Social structure is the fundamental organization of a culture,

including its institutions and groups (Wild & Wild, 2012). Social group associations,
social mobility and social status are three important elements of cross-culture (Wild &

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Wild, 2012). Social structure plays a role in many business decisions, such as
advertising methods, the costs of doing business and production-site selection (Wild
& Wild, 2012). As stated by Granovetter (2005), social structure could affect the
economic outcomes from three ways: the flow and the quality of information; source
of reward and punishment; trust with each others.

Education: Crucial for passing on traditions, values and custom is education (Wild &
Wild, 2012). Education level is one of important topics in education, countries which
have high education level could good-paying industries but countries which have
education level only can have lowest-paying manufacturing jobs (Wild & Wild, 2012).
Brain drain often happened in developing countries, it means the people who have
high education level leave their profession, geographic region and nation to another to
escape poverty (Wild & Wild, 2012). According to Knack and Keefer (1997),
education may enhance trust and civic norms, which way improve the working
efficiency

Aesthetics: Aesthetics is the symbolism of certain colors, the imagery evoked by

certain and a culture considers “good taste” in the arts (Wild & Wild, 2012). When a
company does business in another culture aesthetics is very important. The color is a
typical manifestation of aesthetics. For example, green is Islam’s favorable color, but
in some other Asian countries green is often associated with sickness (Wild & Wild,
2012).

Physical & Material Environment: Development and pace of change of a culture

are influenced by its physical environment and material surroundings (Wild & Wild,
2012). Physical environment dose not influence people’s culture directly, it influences
it by topography and climate (Wild & Wild, 2012). Companies often use material
culture which is defined by all the technology used in a culture to provide services
and manufacture goods to measure the nation’s markets or industries’ technological
advancement (Wild & Wild, 2012).

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Religion: Different religions take different views to the people, because human values
often originate from religious beliefs (Wild & Wild, 2012). Religion is not only a
spirit. It is also the social norms and moral standards (Ruhe & Lee, 2008).

Wild and Wild’s theories focus on how the culture impacts the business, which mainly
helps us find the conflict which is made by culture. As a result, the Wild and Wild’s
theories would be better to be used in finding the barriers caused by cross cultural
differences which can influence the international construction project. Rather than
searching barriers through mountains of information aimlessly, we could identify
barriers according to the components one by one.

2.2 Cross cultural management

As different researchers hold different views towards cross cultural management,
there is not an agreed definition available (Fontaine, 2007). According to Søderberg
and Holden (2002), cross cultural management focuses on cultural encounters
between different entities: the organizations and the nation-states, as well as helping
to deal with cultural differences which would be sources of conflicts or
miscommunication. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998) study cross cultural
management from the perspective of human resource. The definition given by Adler
(1991) states that cross cultural management mainly cares about organizational
behaviors, which is describing and comparing organizational behavior within and
across countries and cultures, as well as seeking to “understand and improve the
interaction of co-workers, clients, suppliers, and alliance partners from different
countries and cultures”.

As Søderberg and Holden (2002) claim, cross cultural management is meaningful for
two reasons: one is supporting managers to make procedures and policies with
different cultural backgrounds, and the other is decreasing the impact of cultural
differences on the project process.

Trompenaars and Voerman (2009) propose a four-step cross culture management

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process. The first step for doing cross cultural management is to create cross-cultural
awareness. We must know what is the cross-culture, how can the cross-culture
influence the projects, and then we can make policies and adopt measurement to solve
it. Respecting the culture differences is the second step. Each culture has its own way
to solve problems and make decision. So when a manager has a cross-cultural
awareness, he/she also needs to avoid ethnocentrism. A manager must communicate
with other people equally. In other words, he/she should understand each other’s
language, culture, religion and taboo. The third step is reconciling, and it means we
need find methods to resolve the culture difference. At last is realizing and root, which
is to implement the methods found in the step before, and to see if the method is
useful.

Figure 2.2 The procedure of cross cultural management

Source: Trompenaars & Voerman, 2009

2.2.1 Identify barriers caused by cross cultural differences

Barriers are the problems caused by cross cultural differences, such as conflicts and

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misunderstandings (Krishna et al., 2004). According to the Farmer – Richman Model
(1965) and the theory of Wild and Wild (2010), we identify three barriers existing in
international construction projects, which are language barrier, business etiquette and
religious difference.

Language barrier: According to Feely and Harzing (2002), language barrier is a big
block for the understanding. Babcock and Babcock (2001) claim that individuals
speaking different language will influence international business directly and
indirectly, both horizontally within a project and vertically across projects and
organizations. Hofstede (1984) also strengths one bad translation, which involves at
least two different languages, may invalidate the communication within two countries.
Language barrier increases the cost not only because it gives rise to the money and
time spent on translation, but also disrupts the relationships within the organization.
Thus in turn impact the daily work of project and even the whole application of
project strategy (Feel & Harzing, 2002). Physical gestures cause most
misunderstandings among people, because their meanings could be completely
different in different cultures (Wild & Wild, 2012).

Business Etiquette: Business etiquette is a barrier because culture differences in rules

of proper behavior, such as greetings, dining, and dressing. Schaffer et al. (1993)
define business etiquette as “the behavior, manners, and protocol established by
convention as acceptable or required in a business or profession”. As Sabath (2005)
claims, being knowledgeable about the customs and manners of the country is one
way leading to successful business. Lack knowledge of business etiquette could be
costly when build international relationships (Martin & Chaney, 2012). For example,
French like check kissing when greeting, while Chinese cannot accept it. However,
they also state that improving the innate ability to adjust to another culture through
training can help to build a good business relationship.

Religious Differences: Different countries have different religions. As Ricks (2009)

claims, religious differences are constantly causing problems for international

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business. For example, beer and pork is forbidden for Muslims, which could be
normal, even favorite food and drink to others. Dickson et al. (2008) also claim that
religious differences will influence the day-to-day functional communication within
an organization. Feldman (2007) also claims that as religion directly influences the
view of people toward things, it is easy to cause disagreements, intolerance or even
conflicts.

2.2.2 Managing barriers caused by cross cultural differences

The next step is to managing barriers caused by cross cultural differences, which is to
minimize the influence of the differences. ICE (2005) proposes four solutions types
for project barriers which are useful, and which types will be adopted is generally
based on the evaluation of the barriers. However, international construction projects
have unique characteristics which should be taken into consideration when dealing
with the barriers caused by cross culture differences. One is the project deadline
according to the contact. If the project cannot be finished on time, the company
usually has a large amount of default, which is even larger than the profit it could get
from the project. As a result, sometimes increasing cost is more acceptable than
delaying the project processing. It is also need to be noticed that the whole project is
in a foreign country. As there are no certain ways to solve those barriers, we have
found four normal ways to manage the barriers in international construction project:
localization, culture assimilator, cross cultural conflict avoidance and acculturation.

Localization ： Compared to globalization, localization is a useful way to solve the

cross cultural differences (Escobar, 2001). The basic point for localization is that the
locals have their own advantages in international business. Jacobs (1996) claims that
through localization, which is attending to local and taking local seriously, foreigners
will fully understand the power of locals. Gibson-Graham (1996) also address that
local practice is economically meaningful, and it makes visible practice of cultural
differences which be treated as a basis for alternative. As Escobar (2001) states, the
localization could have many aspects, such as capital, the state, techno science,

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communities, etc.

Culture Assimilator: According to Mendenhall et al. (2004), culture assimilator may

be one of the most popular and earliest ways to manage barriers caused by cross
cultural differences. Bhawuk and Brislin (2000) also state that culture assimilator is
an effective way to solve the barriers. As Triandis (1995) describes, it concerns about
puzzling cross cultural interactions and explanation in order to avoid the emerging
misunderstandings. In other words, it deals with the “intercultural interactions
between a sojourner and a host country national that depict a misunderstanding
because of cultural differences among people”. It helps foreigners and locals to
distinguish cultural differences from individual differences, and find way to cope with
cultural differences.

Cross Cultural Conflict Avoidance: Cross cultural conflict avoidance means

avoiding the big differences in cultures between foreigners and host country, in case
the conflicts in these sensitive areas. According to Morris et al. (1998), avoiding
certain cross cultural conflict involves the skills and knowledge to avoid the conflict
in ahead. Leung (1988) claims that conflict avoidance is positive for cross cultural
performance. It is especially useful when dealing with religious problems.

Acculturation: Redfield et al. (1936) has defined acculturation “comprehends those

phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come
into continuous first-hand contact with subsequent changes in the original culture
patterns of either or both groups”. However, even though in the definition, the
changing is both-side, the acculturation trends to change more in one group than the
other (Berry, 1990). As a result, acculturation is mainly about how one culture
generally influences the other one. In international business, the companies sometimes
would change the value of workers in host country, even the culture in host
community (Berry, 1990).

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 2.3 Summary
In this chapter, we review literatures on cross culture and cross cultural management.
The first stage for cross-cultural management is to identify barriers caused by cross
cultural differences, and we adopt the eight components theory of Wild and Wild to
find out the barriers. We summarize the barriers we found in table 2.1. Then we have
summarized four ways to manage the barriers, which are localization, culture
assimilator, cross cultural conflict avoidance and acculturation.

Table 2.1 Barriers caused by cross cultural differences

Barriers caused
Culture
by cross cultural Description Publication
Component
differences
The differences of speaking Feely and Harzing, 2002
Personal language and body language Babcock and Babcock,
Communicatio Language barrier from culture to culture will 2001
n lead to misunderstandings Hofstede, 1984
Wild & Wild, 2012
Lack knowledge of business Martin & Chaney, 2012
etiquette such as greetings, Schaffer et al., 1993
Customs’ & Business
dining, and dressing could be Sabath, 2005
Manners Etiquette
costly when build international
relationships
Different religions have Ricks, 2009
different manners and tattoos, Dickson et al., 2008
Religious which may cause conflicts and Feldman, 2006
Religion
Differences influence the relationship
among people from different
religions.
Source: Own Construction

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3. Methodology
In our research, we need to find which barriers caused by cross cultural differences
will occur and how to solve them. The research of barriers in international
construction project is not a common one. We need to use the qualitative approach to
identify which barrier will occur. We will conduct a case study to answer the research
questions. Interviews will be done at first to collect data. Then we build a likert scale
based on the barriers and do a survey to Chinese workers using the likert scale.

3.1 Mixed-methods Research method

Qualitative and Quantitative approaches are two general approaches to gathering and
reporting information (Ben-Eliyahu, 2013). Quantitative approach is often used to
analyze natural science model as generally underpinned and manages the analysis of
numerical data by mathematical and statistical tools (Croom, 2008). This approach
can recognize patterns by surveying the individuals and applies statistical techniques
in the relations of processes (Ben-Eliyahu, 2013). Compared to the quantitative
approach, qualitative approach bases on constructivist, interpretation and perception,
rather than the identification of a rational, objective truth (Croom, 2008). Because the
information from the qualitative approach focuses on describing phenomenon, the
findings from it cannot be generalized to the whole population. But qualitative
approach is a good method to identify new and untouched phenomena (Croom, 2008).
Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their benefits and limitations, and
the contrast is shown below:
Table 3.1 Contrast of qualitative and quantitative approach
Qualitative Quantitative
Benefits Allows identification of new and Enables gathering information from a
untouched phenomena relatively large number of participant
Can provide a deeper Can conduct in a number of groups,
understanding of mechanisms allowing for comparison

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 Gives a one-on-one and Allows generalizing to broader
anecdotal information population
Provides verbal information that Provides numerical or rating
may sometimes be converted to information
numerical form
May reveal information that Informative for instantiating policy
would not be identified through or guidelines
pre-determined survey question
/ Lends to statistical techniques that
allow determining relations between
variables (think of better word)
Limitation Cannot generalize to the general Difficulty in recognizing new and
population untouched phenomena
Challenges in applying statistical Caution in interpretation without a
methods control group
Difficulty in assessing relations /
between characteristics
Source: Ben-Eliyahu, 2013

However, qualitative and quantitative methods are incommensurate with each other
through they are distinctive (Bryman, 2006). Qualitative and quantitative approaches
could be combined in practice (Bryman, 2006). Maxwell and Loomis (2003) have
argued further that integrating the two approaches is more complex than classifying
them separately from limited dimensions.

Combining the two methods together brings benefits. Evers and Staa (2010) state that
it can help to overcome or decrease the system biases and drawbacks in a single
methodology. Yin (2009) also highlights that using mixed method will make the study
more convincing. Madey (1982) states the combination could benefit from three ways:
(1) helping to validate quantitative finding through referring to information coming

17
from qualitative study; (2) helping to analyze quantitative data through indices
constructed from qualitative data; (3) enable researchers to both study what they
concern and capture the voice of participants at the same time.

According to Onwuegbuzie & Leech (2005), the main goal for applying quantitative
and qualitative research is to understand phenomena coherently and systematically.
Graham (1989) has summarized five purposes of mixed method approach: (1)
triangulation, using more methods to confirm the result of study; (2) complementary,
using the result of one method to support the result of the other; (3) development,
using one method to complete which the other one cannot fulfill; (4) initiation,
figuring out the paradoxes or contradictions which lead to research question; (5)
expansion, using different methods to analyze different aspects of the phenomena.

Mixed method approach is particularly suitable for case study, which we use in the
research, as Kitchenham (2010) claims. Because it allows rich empirical data yielded
from case studies, and more ways to analyze the data, no matter quantitative or
qualitative method or both. He also states, in mixed method approach, “qualitative
data can be quantitized or quantitative data can be qualitatized to extract meaning
from the data sets that might otherwise be hidden”. Tashakkori and Teddlie (2003)
also claim there are two ways to do multiple-method study. One is collecting
quantitative data and classifying them so as it can be analyzed qualitatively. The other
is collecting qualitative data and turning them into numbers, and as a result the data
can be analyzed statistically.

In order to make our study reliable, the mixed-method is the best choice. Only one
approach is not sufficient for our research. We adopt the second way that using
quantitized qualitative data to analysis. We will do an interview at first and then a
questionnaire using likert scale. The result of questionnaire is analyzed through
quantitative way. The scale will be designed according to literature review and
information from interview.

18
3.2 Case study
“A case study is an empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary
phenomenon within its real life context, especially when the boundaries between
phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 2003, pp13).
According to the definition given by Yin (2003), case study is a way to confirm what
can be gotten from theory through investigating a phenomenon under its circumstance.
Yin (2003) puts forward three kinds of case study: descriptive case study, which a
description of a phenomenon; exploratory case study, which concern with an
important subject but not investigated before; and explanatory case study, which is a
explanation of facts and features in the case. According to how many cases involved
in the research, case study are divided into single-case study and multiple-case study.

Our research is exploratory single-case study. Because the subject we focus on has not
been paid much attentions on. To do the research, we select the case based on the
theoretical part, and using the case to verify what we get. In our research, we choose
the China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc (CMICG) to do the case study.
Because this company has several years experience in international engineering
contract project. It has finished projects in Southeast Asia and East Europe. The
project we focus on is in the West Africa, in Republic of Congo. The developing
countries need development badly, but most of them are lack of infrastructure (Long
et al., 2004). In such case many foreign companies come to Africa to do the
engineering contract projects. It will bring some barriers, so we choose a Chinese
company’s project in Republic of Congo to find out what barriers they will meet and
how the barriers influence the project.

3.3 Data Collection Method

There are two types of data: primary data and secondary data. We can get primary
data through surveys, observations and interviews which mostly reflect reliability, and
secondary data is collected in articles, books, newspaper reports and other
publications (Walliman, 2005). Primary data is the data that we collect without
19
analysis, and secondary data is the data come from other people’s research.

Secondary data, according to Jain et al. (2008), are those already existing and
collected on others’ purpose. Secondary data is different from the primary data. Jain &
Jhunjhunwala (2007) have listed 6 types of differences to distinguish primary data and
secondary data, which are listed in figure 3.1 below. They are: (1) meaning of primary
and secondary; (2) who collects/compiles the dada; (3) cost for collect data; (4)
suitability for the inquiry; (5) use of the data; (6) possibility of personal prejudice in
data collection.
Figure 3.1 Distinguishing primary data and secondary data

Source: Jain& Jhunjhunwala, 2007, pp.9

We will get the primary data from the company which we choose. Firstly, we will
conduct face-to-face interviews to four managers in the company. Then we develop a
questionnaire, which is for the staffs of CMICGI who work in the Congo.

The majority of secondary information came from website of the company and the
managers. The CMIGC gave us their project research report. This report was finished
before the project began, and includes information of Congo and the project.

3.3.1 Literature review

The quality of the research depends on the literature review, because information used
20
in analyze comes from the literature. The more theories to be collect, the more
information can be disposal in the analysis (Walliman, 2005). Saunders et al. (2012)
state that literature review not only allow researcher learn more academic background
and find research gap about the subject, but also provide a framework and information
for following works, such as findings and analysis. We analysis previous researches
about cross-cultural management in international construction project, in order to find
what they have studied in this area and what barriers they have gotten, as well as how
they deal with the barriers. The result will be compared to what we get from
interviews and questionnaires in analysis & discussion part.

3.3.2 Interview
Interview is one method we use in the case study. It often is used for the qualitative
approaches. In the qualitative research, the data is the evidence which is in the form of
people’s experience (Polkinghorne, 2005). Interview is a good way to acknowledge
experience. According Ghauri & Grönhaug (2005), there are three types of interview:
structured interview, which has predefined questions; semi structured interview,,
which only has a guideline for the interview; and unstructured interview, in which non
questions are predefined and interviewees are free to say anything about the topic.

We interview four managers in the company: the CEO of the company Mr Jianping
Lu, top manager of the international contrasting project in Congo Mr Yongbing Liu,
human resource manager Zheng Xu and a chief engineer of the project Tongfu Wang.
They had worked in Congo for two years, and are the managers whom CMICGI send
to the Congo when the project began. We choose the CEO because he is the leader of
the company, and he knows information of almost all international construction
projects in the company including the case project. The project manager could tell us
the barriers which they meet in the project. The human resource manager could tell us
the barrier they meet when managing the employees. We could get the information of
barriers due to engineering problem such as the working skill from the chief engineer.
In our study, semi structured interview is adopted. We encourage people to say as

21
much as they can about the project. The questions mainly concern with the
information of cross-cultural management in international construction project and
how they deal with the problems. In this way, we can get opinions from different
aspects. Besides, we can also get basic information of the company and project when
we interview the CEO and top manager. We have a face-to-face interview to the CEO.
For the rest three interviewees, we do the interview through video call.

3.3.3 Questionnaire

We will develop a questionnaire according to literature review. This scale includes the
barriers which can influence the project. In order to evaluate the importance of a
certain barrier caused by cross cultural difference, we could examine it from two
dimensions: probability or likelihood, which means the frequency of the barrier
happens, and its impact or severity to the organization (Maylor, 2010).

Lansdowne & Engert (1999, pp.4) define the impact of barriers into five levels: (1)
critical, the program will fail if the barrier occurs; (2) serious, if the barrier occurs, the
project can still be finished, but important requirements or tasks cannot be met; (3)
moderate, if the barrier occur, major requirement would still be met, but there would
be moderate increasing of cost/schedule; (4) minor, the barrier will lead to small
increasing of cost/schedule; (5) negligible, whether the barrier occurs or not, the
project would not be influence. They also define five scales of probability, which are:
0~10%, 11~40%, 41~60%, 61~90%, 91~100%. Meanwhile, Kendrick (2003)
simplifies it into three scopes: High probability, 50% or more, with five points;
Medium probability, 10%~49%, with 3 points; low probability, less than 10%, with
one point. The two dimensions are summarized in table 3.2.

22
 Table 3.2 The probability and impact of barriers caused by cross cultural differences

Level Meaning Point

Whether the barrier occurs or not, the

Negligible 1
project would not be influence

The barrier will lead to small increasing

Minor 2
of cost/schedule
If the barrier occur, major requirement
Moderate would still be met, but there would be 3
Impact
moderate increasing of cost/schedule
The program will fail if the barrier
Serious 4
occurs
If the barrier occurs, the project can still
Critical be finished, but important requirements 5
or tasks cannot be met
Low Less than 10% 1
Probability Medium 10%~49% 3
High 50% or more 5
Source: Own Construction

As a result, our scale will include 9 questions. In our scale, we will have two
dimensions for each barrier, frequency which has five degrees and influence with
three degrees. All options are described by words to help respondents choose answer
easily. Then the degrees of the scale will be translated into number in order to do
statistic analysis. The degrees of probability, according to Kendrick (2003), vary from
low to high, and the points are 1, 3, and 5. The impact has five scales according to
Lansdowne & Engert (1999), and points are from 1 to 5, where 1 for negligible and 5
for critical. The questionnaire is placed in appendix 1. We send the questionnaire to all
Chinese workers in the project, which number is 48. Because of the project would be
end soon, so the number of Chinese workers in not high.
23
In order to compare the result gotten from the questionnaire, we multiply the point
and the number of person of each answer, and then it is divided by the number of
people to get the average point of each barrier. (Average Point)= (Single
Point*Number of people choosing the answer)/48

3.4 Date Analysis Framework

The whole data analysis framework is shown below in figure3.2. Firstly through
literature review, we collect useful data and information from theories and organize
them. We summarize two steps to manage barriers caused by cross cultural
differences, which are barriers identification and barriers management. After that, we
conduct a case study, which is composed by interviews and questionnaires. The
questions of questionnaires are based on the result of literature review and the
interviews. In the findings, based on the results of case study, we conclude a
three-step process, rather than two-step, to manage the barriers, which are barriers
identification, barriers quantification and barriers management. The last effort is to
compare the result of literature review and case study and do analyze and discuss the
results.

24
 Figure 3.2 Data Analysis Framework

Data Analysis Framework

Interviews

Literature Review Case Study

Questionnaires

Theories Findings
Process of managing barriers Process of managing barriers
caused by cross cultural caused by cross cultural
differences differences
--Barriers Identification --Barriers Identification
--Barriers Management --Barriers Evaluation

Analysis & Discussion

Process of managing barriers
caused by cross cultural differences
--Barriers Identification
--Barriers Evaluation
--Barriers Management

Source: Own construction

3.5 Validity and Reliability

(1) Validity

Validity of a research is how much the result of research can match the measurement
results (Yin, 2009). Firstly, we choose the CMICI to do case study. This company has
done international construction projects all over the world in the past several years.
The managers and the workers of this company have meet barriers caused by
cross-culture differences in their working time and daily lives. By the interview and
questionnaire could know that how the barriers influence the projects. The CMICI
have solved many barriers in the past project. We can compare their methods and the
25
methods of theories how to solve the barriers to prove that our research is validity.

(2) Reliability

According to Krishnaswamy et al. (2006), reliability means the result of similar

research would be the same or similar, regardless of the system error. There are three
forms of reliability: stability, equivalence, and internal consistency, and economical,
convenient, and interpretable could prove that a method has practical value (Cooper &
Schindler, 2003). A method has practical value for the research if it is economical,

convenient, and interpretable. We have done research in theories, and we find three
barriers in the theories, which are language barrier, business etiquette and religious
difference. We also find how to do a cross-cultural management in the theories. The
result of our study could link to the theories. We interview four managers in the
company, all of whom have experience in the international construction projects. The
CEO has more than 20 years working experience on the international construction
projects. The others three managers have more than 10 years working experiences.
The managers at least worked in three projects located in three countries. Their
suggestions are not only based on the case projects, but also their experience of doing
the cross-cultural management in different projects and different countries. We also
have done questionnaires to the Chinese workers who work in Congo, and the result
could show the attitude of workers what they think about the cross-cultural barriers.

26
4. Findings
In this chapter, we introduce the information of the case company and the case project
at first. Then we conclude our interview and questionnaire to find out what the case
company thinks about the barriers caused by cross cultural differences and what they
do to solve the barriers.

4.1 The information of case company and case projects

(1) The case company

The company we use is China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc. This
company has business all over the world; this company is hold by SINOMACH
(China National Machinery Industry Corporation) (SINOMACH, 2013), which is
number 367 of 500 largest companies in the world by 29846 million us-dollars
income in 2012 (Fortune Global 500, 2012).

China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc has passed the verification and
certification of ISO 9000 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental
Management System and GB/T 28001 System of Occupational Health and Safety
Management. Until now, SINOCONST has 12 separate subsidiaries, 5 branch
companies, 4 specialized companies, 5 business offices, 8 equity participating
companies and 1 polytechnic school. It has more than 10,000 employees, including
3,000 various technicians. (SINOMACH, 2013)

(2) International construction projects in Congo, Rep in the case company

This water plant stands by Djiri River in Congo, Rep about 500 meters from water
treatment plant. It includes water inlet channel, desalting basin, raw water pumping
station and switch room. As a major part of Water Plant (Djiri) Project, the water plant
will extract water from Djiri River for water treatment plant, and treated water will be
supplied to Brazzaville citizens as drinking water (Sinoconst, 2013).

According to the report of company, the total investment of this project is about 0.3
27
billion USD (about 1.9 billion SEK). SINOCONST contracting whole project, now
has 736 employees at Congo, Rep, the number of local employees is 699. After
finishing this project, Djiri water plant can provide 126 thousand tons drinking water
to Brazzaville city every day. Maintenance barriers of water engineering are: repairing
issue of waterworks; restoring its water rate and water quality. Urban pipeline
engineering is: the laying of water supply pipeline is 188 km, including ductile iron
pipes, 66 km, 122 km PVC pipe; 7 new pool, a pumping station 4.

Open and completion date of the project is: The second phase of Djiri waterworks
project started on November 11th, 2009; the completion time is on November 10th,
2012. The contract period is 36 months.

Urban water supply network project started on December 7th, 2010, and completed on
November 21, 2013. The contract period is 36 months. In fact this part has finished on
July, 2013. Maintenance barriers of waterworks project started on April 4th, 2011,
completion date would be April 3th, 2014. The contract period is 36 months.

4.2 Cross culture management in the case project

In order to study the existing cross culture management in the case company, we
made interviews to four managers in the company and project. We arrived at company
in the afternoon, and met the CEO of the case company Jianping Lu at 2:30 pm. He
told us some information of the international construction projects, the company and
the case projects. Because of the rest of the managers were in Congo, Rep, then at
3:00 pm we have a video meeting in the meeting room of the company. There were
four managers attending the meeting: CEO of the case company Jianping Lu, project
manager Yongbing Liu, human resource manager Zheng Xu, and chief engineer
Tongfu Wang. We asked the questions which we had prepared to the managers firstly.
Then we have a free discussion about the cross-cultural management. The video
meeting lasted two hours. After the video meeting, the projects managers Mr. Liu
gave their own report about which barriers they had met, and how to manage the
barriers. After one week, we combined the literature review and the interview and
28
conclude nine questions to do the questionnaire. We send the questionnaire to the
project manager Mr. Liu. He replied us the result after one week. Because the projects
would be almost finish, there are only 48 Chinese employees in Congo, Rep when we
did the questionnaire, all of whom joined the questionnaire. The topics concern three
aspects: (1) what are the barriers caused by cross cultural differences, and what their
influences are; (2) how they evaluate the barriers influence in the case project; (3)
solutions used for the barriers existing in the case project.

4.2.1 The barriers caused by cross cultural differences which

the case project faces
According to the interviews to the managers, there are nine barriers in the project,
which are: language barrier, engagement, salary, business etiquette, communication
method, leisure time, working skill, goods and materials, and religion.

Language Barrier: This barrier is included in the literature review, so we asked the
managers directly. As the project manager Mr. Liu said, language barrier causes many
problems in daily work, even for the contract. For the case company, English is their
secondary language, and only managers are able to speak English. The HR manager
Mr. Xu said most Chinese workers could not understand English. For local workers,
as Congo, Rep used to be colony of France, their mother tongue is French, and
English is also their secondary language. Mr. Liu told us that both Chinese and
Congolese workers were not good at English, which make the daily communication
very difficult. Besides, because there are also workers from nearby countries, the
languages used are diverse, which causes a lot of misunderstanding. Mr. Liu said that
the problem also exists when the project manager makes contract with local
government and consulting corporation.

Engagement: The HR manager Mr. Xu mentioned this barrier when we asking about
value and attitude. He said that a problem for local workers is the low working
efficiency. The locals are always late for work and leave early without asking. The

29
work arranged for them usually cannot be finished on time. Without supervision they
prefer relaxing, such as chatting and sleeping, rather than doing their own jobs.
Comparatively, project manager Mr. Liu said that efficiency of Chinese worker was
higher, and one Chinese worker can do the job of three Congolese workers in the
same period of time. However, there are not many Chinese workers in the project.
Local government has policy that if you have to hire enough locals to ensure the
employment rate of local. It makes the number of local employees has to be twice
than Chinese employees in this project. Such a low working efficiency will largely
extend the whole time of the project, as a consequence increase the total cost. The
CEO Mr. Lu said that if the company could hire more skilled workers from the local
people, the situation could be improved. Sometimes the novice workers’ work
efficiency is catastrophic. The skilled workers could also follow the working rules
better.

Salary: Another problem complained by HR manager Mr. Xu is the salary, and he

also mentioned this barrier in value and attitude. He said that the discretion of the
salary could directly affect the working attitude of employees. The project manager
Mr. Liu told us that Congo, Rep is much poorer than China. The price level in Congo
is much lower than in China and the life in Congo is also simple. There are few things
to spend money on, except for food and drink. The CEO Mr. Lu told us that it means
with the same salary, local workers would have a happy life in Congo, but Chinese
workers could not afford their family in China, which will lead to the dissatisfaction
of Chinese workers, and many of them would not willing to attend the project any
more. But if Chinese workers have higher salary than local worker, local worker
would reject working, or even accuse the company for discrimination.

Business Etiquette: We asked the managers this directly because we found the
barrier in literature review. The project manager Mr. Liu told us that Congolese is
influenced greatly by French culture. For example, the local pay a lot of attention to
politeness and dress, and judge depends on what he wears and what car he drives.
They are used to being late sometimes. In the report of company we found that
30
Monday is usually the busiest day in a week, so business activity or visiting should be
avoided on Monday, and should make an appointment ahead. Failure to follow these
rules will lead to bad impression, even offend others. This will harm the relationships
among Chinese workers and local workers. Another big problem is the corruption.
Due to local protectionism in Congo, many things cannot be solved in a formal way,
such as taking legal proceeding against some local people. Seeking help from local
government is usually proved as useless, and even cause extra cost for bribery and
unfair judgment. The CEO Mr. Lu even complained that local government officials
will not allow them to do anything unless they give relevant officials enough money.
Otherwise, the company would face the risk of huge penalty even shutting down the
project.

Communication Method: In the HR managers Mr. Xu’s opinion, the differential in

communication method is also a problem for Chinese managers. The managers
mentioned this barrier in the manners and customs question. The project manager Mr.
Liu said that if Chinese workers fell dissatisfied on something, or fell something could
get improved, or there is something wrong, they prefer to write a polite suggestion, or
have a private communication with managers. But for local workers, they would like
strike to get more benefit, even though there is not serious disagreement. But if
Congolese workers have same problem, they will complain and argue directly to
managers, even shout at managers, no matter what condition it is or how many people
there are. It is treated as impolite by Chinese workers, and will make Chinese
managers fell disrespected and lose face. Thus, the CEO Mr. Liu thought that it would
harm the relationship within Chinese and Congolese employees in the project.

Leisure Time: When we asked the question about manners and customs, both CEO
Mr. Lu and project manager Mr. Liu also treat leisure time as a big barrier. The project
manager Mr. Liu told us before this barrier happen they never thought it would be a
barrier. According to the project managers Mr. Liu experience, people would not
refuse extra work if they can get extra salary in China and Southeast Asia which are
developing countries. In China, it is usual to work overtime or in weekends if needed,
31
as long as workers are paid enough, often 2 or 3 times of the normal daily work.
Congo. Rep is a developing country as well, so Mr. Liu thought his experience would
also work. But when he told the local workers they have to work overtime because of
the delayed schedule, the reaction of the local workers is very fierce. They think work
overtime would occupy their leisure time. This event becomes a strike at last. They
refuse to work until China embassy and the local government promised they won't
have to work overtime. The CEO Mr. Lu said that for Chinese workers, most of their
friends and families were in China, and Congo was not a good place for travel, so they
actually did not have many things to do in leisure time. They hope finishing the
project as soon as possible, so that they can go back home earlier.

Working Skill: The Chief engineer Mr. Wang complains about the working skill of
local workers when we asked them if there was any barrier because of education. The
HR manager Mr. Xu said that hiring skilled construction workers and technical
workers from local is not easy. There is not complete a local construction team, as a
result, the local workers hired lack of skills or experience needed. They have to carry
out training every time when they hire a new local worker, which increases cost of the
project. However, the project manager Mr. Liu said that he local workers would quit
jobs with no reason, which means the managers have to hire some other workers and
train them again. Some local workers transfer to other companies after getting trained,
because local companies would pay higher for the pressing need of skilled workers.
The HR managers Mr. Xu said workers with poor skills and experience will lead to
more mistakes and lower efficiency than skilled workers. This will impact the
processing of the entire project.

Goods and Materials: When we asking the question about Physical & Material
Environment, the project manager Mr. Liu mentioned this barrier immediately. He
said almost everything needed for construction in Congo is bought from Europe or
China. All machines are brought from China, because it is very hard to rent one in
Congo. Chief manager Mr. Wang complained that in Congo, there is not a complete
electric power system, and the voltage is not stable, which varies from 140V to 270V.
32
 The CEO Mr. Lu complained other materials, such as cement, building stones, steel,
nail, and oil paint, are all rare in Congo. Those things in Congo are with bad quality, if
can be bought, and the prices are 5~8 times than those in China. Transportation is also
a big problem, no matter for road or railway. Inland water transportation is a good
choice, but there is not cargo ship available, instead, canoe is usual. Additionally,
goods for daily life are also expensive, the prices of which are 2~3 times than those
goods in China. The project manager Mr. Liu complained again that there is not
textile industry locally, so clothes are all imported from other countries. According to
the report of company, there is also a problem about the logistics. The company could
not control the arrival time of the materials. The terrible condition results in a high
cost of construction and low satisfaction for Chinese workers.

Religious Differences: This barrier also has been concluded in literature review. The
CEO Mr. Lu says in Congo, about 61% population in Republic of the Congo beliefs
primitive religion, 26% is Catholic, 10% is Christian, and the other 3% is Muslim.
Each religion has its own taboos. We found some example in the report of company,
number 13 is an unlucky number for both Catholic and Christian. The HR manager
Mr. Xu also said religion festival is also diversity, and Chinese also have their
festivals. Christmas is the most important festival for Christian, so as Spring Festival
for Chinese workers. The diversity festivals will lead to great delay on the whole
project.

The barriers caused by cross cultural differences are summarized in table 4.1

Table 4.1 Barriers caused by cross cultural differences in case

Influence Reason
 Communication problems in daily lives  English is not the first language for
Language
 Contract problem with local locals and Chinese.
Barrier
government and consulting corporation  Language diversity
Engagement  Low working efficiency  Late for work and leave early

33
  The work cannot be finished on time  Chatting and sleeping
 Wage differentials among Chinese  Price level in Congo is much lower
workers and local workers than in China.
Salary
 Dissatisfaction, strike, even accuse of
discrimination
 Harm relationship among Chinese and  Unfamiliar with each other’s
Business
local workers culture and business etiquette
Etiquette
 Extra cost increasing  Corruption
 Bad relationship among Chinese and  Congolese employees prefer direct
Communication
locals employees communication which would make
Method
Chinese feel offends
 Strike  Chinese workers prefer working
 Schedule delay overtime
Leisure Time
 Locals are disgusted with working
overtime
 More mistakes and lower efficiency  No local construction team.
Working Skill  Influencing the processing  Poor of working skill of locals
 Increasing cost of training  Job-hopping frequently
 Increasing cost of purchasing  Lack of necessary materials and
Goods and instrument
Materials  Poor infrastructure facilities in
Congo
Religious  Delay on the whole project  Religion diversity
Differences
Source: Own Construction

4.2.2 The evaluation of barriers in the case project

Based on the questionnaire, we can summarize the impact and probability of each
barrier, which is listed in table 1. In the table 4.2, the fist column means each barrier,

34
 with the probability of the barrier. According to the methodology it could be divided
to three levels: low, middle and high, and below is the relating point. In the impact
column, there are five levels: Negligible, minor, moderate, serious and critical. For the
row of each barrier, the number means how many people choose the answer of the
column. Then we calculate the average impact and probability of each barrier and list
them in table 4.3.

Table 4.2 The impact and probability of barriers caused by cross cultural differences

Probability Impact

Barrier Low Middle High Negligible Minor Moderate Serious Critical

(1) (3) (5) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Language
2 6 40 13 24 10 1 0
Barrier

Engagement 8 35 5 0 7 33 7 1

Salary 38 8 2 40 4 4 0 0

Business
6 40 2 10 30 6 2 0
Etiquette

Communication
13 30 15 0 10 18 15 5
Method

Leisure Time 2 2 44 0 0 0 8 40

Working Skill 5 3 42 0 3 10 21 15

35
Goods and
15 20 13 0 0 1 12 35
Materials

Religious
1 2 45 2 14 15 13 4
Differences

Source: Own Construction

Table 4.3 The average point of impact and probability of each barrier from
questionnaires

Barrier Probability Impact

Language Barrier 4.58 1.98

Engagement 2.88 3.04
Salary 1.50 1.25
Business Etiquette 2.83 2.00
Communication
3.70 3.31
Method
Leisure Time 4.75 4.83
Working Skill 4.67 4.06
Goods and Materials 2.92 4.71
Religious Differences 4.83 3.06
Source: Own Construction

Combining the table 4.3 with interviews to managers, the result shows how the
barriers influence in the case project are summarized below:

Language Barrier: According to the interview we find that language barrier is a

common barrier in the project. All of four managers whom we have interviewed think
it could happen anytime. The result of questionnaire shows that the probability of this
barrier is 4.58 which is a high number, which means the Chinese employees also think

36
it is easy to happen. But the impact of language barrier is only 1.98 which is close to
the minor degree according to the questionnaire. The HR manager Mr. Xu and chief
engineer Mr. Wang said that they often met language barrier in the work time, but it
would not do much damage to the project. The cost and schedule would not increase
so much because of the language barrier.

Engagement: Based on the questionnaire, the probability of engagement is 2.88

which is close to middle and the impact is 3.04 which is close to moderate. The HR
manager Mr. Xu said the engagement problem has always been a problem, and it
depends on the local employees, but he thought that the probability of the barrier is
not so frequency. Both the HR manager Mr. Xu and the chief engineer Mr. Wang
thought that this barrier would take moderate loss due to the low working efficiency
which would make the schedule delay. Schedule delay means they have to pay more
money to the workers. But the HR manager Mr. Xu thought that the local human
resource cost is not high, so the impact of the barrier is also acceptable.

Salary: The HR managers Mr. Xu said that the CMICG have many experience of
international construction projects, so before the project starting they have some
policies to solve this problem. The result is satisfactory. The questionnaire also shows
that the probability is 1.50 and the impact is 1.25, which means the probability is low
and the impact is negligible. The salary problem may be the least important problem
they have met.

Business Etiquette: According to the questionnaire, the probability of business

etiquette is 2.83 which close to the middle and the impact is 2.00 which is also minor.
The project manager Mr. Liu told us the Chinese managers used to do business with
Europeans, so it is not a problem for them. But he also said for the Chinese workers,
they need time to adapt it. The main problem is that the local officials would ask for
bribes, sometimes the amount is huge. The barrier would not make the process delay,
although it would lead to cost increasing.

Communication Method: The HR manager Mr. Xu, chief engineer Mr. Wang and

37
the project manager Mr. Liu all said they had received some complaints. For Chinese
workers, the probability of communication method is 3.70 which is close to middle.
The impact of this barrier is 3.31 which is also moderate. When Chinese workers
communicate to local workers, it is easy to cause arguments because of the
differential communication method.

Leisure Time: The probability of leisure time is 4.75, and no doubt it is a high
number. In the questionnaire the Chinese workers also think the impact of the barrier
is 4.83 which is critical. The HR manager Mr. Xu and chief engineer Mr. Wang said
they often have arguments with local workers about leisure time, because they always
think that they have worked enough and they need have a rest. But in fact they just
start their work one or two hours ago. There was even a strike because of the demand
of working overtime. The strike and delay makes a huge loss for the project, and the
managers also thought it is a serious barrier. However, it is not always the case
everywhere. For example, as our case company has some projects in South East Asia,
the CEO told us people there prefer to use their leisure time to work to earn extra
salary in there.

Working Skill: According to the questionnaire, the probability of this barrier reaches
to 4.67 in high level, so the Chinese workers think that this barrier would happen from
time to time along the project processing. Besides, according to the questionnaire the
impact gets 4.06, which is also serious. The project engineer Mr. Liu told us this
problem is very common in the project especially when hiring more novice workers.
Chief engineers Mr. Wang also told us that the local employees even cannot do any
work before they have training. The barrier would lead to the low work efficiency, and
cost and schedule would increase largely.

Goods and Materials: The project managers Mr. Liu told us maybe this is the most
serious barrier they had met, the point of impact have reach to 4.71 which is critical.
Mr. Liu said the local is lack of almost all conditions which is needed to complete
project. The CEO Mr. Lu told us that almost all equipment and materials must be

38
imported from China and Europe, and project has to shutdown sometimes because of
the lack of materials. Importing materials need also to pay high importing tax. Mr Liu
said the traffic also let the logistics cost increase. The questionnaire also shows that
the probability is 2.92, which means it not always happened but it could not be
avoided. As a critical barrier, if it cannot be solved, the project would fail.

Religious Differences: The Christianity and the local religion do not have too much
religion taboo, so religion is not a big problem for the company. But HR manager Mr.
Xu said that there is a problem because religious activities are too frequent, due to the
religion diversity. Religious activities would occupy the working time. As a result, the
probability of the barrier is 4.83 which is high. However, the time which the local use
to work is lower than expected, so the impact of it is moderate (3.06).

4.2.3 The solutions for barriers used in the case project

Along with the identification and evaluation of the barrier, we also interview the
managers about how they deal with each barrier when they have met in the process of
the project. The solution differs from one to another.

Language Barrier: The project manager Mr. Liu told us there are three main
methods that are used to solve the barrier. The first is hiring local managers. There are
less language barriers between Chinese managers and local managers, because both
their English is good. The second method is hiring French translators from China,
who know how to translate Chinese to French, and it would make the communication
with local workers easier. The chief manager Mr. Wang told us the third way is using
body language, which can solve some simply problems.

Engagement: The HR manager Mr. Xu said the common solution of the barrier is
training and punishment. Mr. Xu the local workers working attitude have improved
after training, although is still not satisfactory. The only punishment is deducting
money, but the project managers Mr. Liu told us the result is not good. He said if
deduct little money, workers don't care; if deduct a lot, the locals may accuse the

39
company, even strike.

Salary: The project manager Mr. Liu told us they have a mature method to solve this
barrier. The HR manager Mr. Xu said that the basic salary of local employees and
Chinese employees is the same, but the Chinese employees can get allowances for
business trip. The CEO Mr. Lu said that this method can make the local employees
satisfied because they have the same salary as the Chinese employees. Meanwhile, the
allowances for business trip can help Chinese afford their family in China.

Business Etiquette: The project manager Mr. Liu said that the company has to pay
more patience to low efficiency of the local officials. Sometimes they have to bribe
officials to get the information and policy which they want. The CEO Mr. Lu told us
he thought the bribery is not illegal, but they have to do in order to make the project
process smoothly. Mr. Lu said that usually if officials ask for money when negotiating,
the company will satisfy their needs. But if the official comes just for money rather
than doing anything good for the project, the company will reject it.

Communication Method: The project manager Mr. Liu told us they solve this barrier
from two sides. One is that they teach the Chinese managers about the communication
method of local workers, in order to help them accept the method. Another is that they
have created an advice collected department, so if the local workers have any
problems they can report to the advice collected department. The HR manager Mr. Xu
said the key to solve this problem is to reduce the chances of direct conflict.

Leisure Time: The project manager told us they tried to tell the local people if they
work time longer they can get more money, but most of the local workers do not want
to work more. They work for the bread and drink, and they strike when the company
wants the workers having extra work. The project manager said they choose to accept
this barrier, and they pay more money for the Chinese workers to let them work
overtime to ensure the project schedule.

Working Skill: The project manager Mr. Liu told us they want to hire more workers
from China to solve this problem although their salary would be higher. But the local
40
government has a policy if you have more Chinese workers, which means, you must
hire even more local employees. So the HR manager Mr. Xu told us they must find a
method to improve the local workers’ skill. The chief manager Mr. Wang said that the
company has a technical training when they hire the local employees. When the local
workers start to work, the Chinese workers also will teach them how to do although
there are some language barriers. The project manager Mr. Liu said as the skilled
workers can have a high salary, some local workers would be happy to improve their
skill to earn more money. The CEO Mr. Lu said that the higher salary also can help
company to keep the skilled workers.

Goods and Materials: As the most serious barrier, the CEO Mr. Lu said that the
company has many ways to solve this problem. The project manager Mr. Liu said that
they bought all the equipments come from China and they have their own electric
generator, so that they can keep the electric power when the local is lack of electricity.
The CEO Mr. Lu said most of the materials come from China and Europe, when some
of material could be gotten from the neighbors. The HR manager Mr. Xu said that in
fact the daily goods such as clothes and wash-towel is a problem, so that the company
asks the Chinese employees take them from China by themselves. Mr. Xu also said
that the food is expensive and the company has to accept it. For the logistics, the
company outsources it and asks the logistics company must compensate their damage
in case of the logistics delay. The chief mangers Mr. Wang said no matter which
method they have chosen, the cost would be high.

Religious Differences: The HR manager Mr. Xu told us all of Chinese employees

would have training before they went to Congo, Rep and the religion taboo training is
included in it. All of the managers thought that religion taboo is not a serious barrier,
and the Chinese just need to remember what they cannot do. For example, The CEO
Mr. Lu says: “as a foreigner there, we need to respect other people’s religious habits,
so we don’t celebrate event at 13 every month”. The HR manager Mr. Xu told us
there are more barriers caused by the religion activities. Except for the legal holiday,
there are some religion activities. Although they are not the legal holiday, you cannot
41
ask the local people to work on these dates. The project manager Mr. Liu told us they
choose to accept this barrier, because they do not want to fall in troubles about
religion. The cost to deal with such troubles will much more than giving them
vacations.

We can summarize the influences of barriers caused by cross cultural differences and
relevant solutions as in table 4.4

Table 4.4 Cross-culture barrier and their solutions in case study

Barriers Influence Solutions

Language Conflict Language training
Barrier Low working efficiency Hiring translator
Low working efficiency Hiring skilled workers
Engagement
Schedule delay Working attitude training
Conflict Same base salary
Salary
Low working efficiency the allowances for business trip
Business Extra cost Etiquette training
Etiquette Schedule delay Avoiding some bribery
Communication Understanding each culture
Conflict
Method Create the advice collection department
Leisure Time Schedule delay Accept it
Schedule delay Hiring skilled workers
Working Skill Extra cost Improve the salary when the workers’
Low working efficiency skill improve
Goods and Project shutdown, Buying goods and materials from China
Materials Extra cost and Europe.
Religious Schedule delay, Religion taboo training
Differences Conflict Accept religion activities
Source: Own Construction

42
5. Analysis & Discussion
In order to manage the barriers caused by cross culture differences in international
construction project, in this chapter we analyse and discuss the problem from the
following four parts. At first we find the process for cross-cultural management
according to the theory and the interviews. Then we figure out the barriers caused by
cross cultural differences and evaluate them. The solutions to the barriers will also be
discussed at the fourth part.

5.1 Cross cultural management in international construction

project

In the international contracted projects, the culture difference is objective. It could

lead to loses. But it could also be a bridge. Understanding each others can help people
to use the positive of each culture, and the managers also can make a good
relationship with local people by understanding the local culture. It is a useful way to
create trust among each others. As a result, it is important to find a way of managing
barriers caused by cross cultural differences, to decrease loses, and enhance benefit.

Trompenaars and Voerman (2009) have proposed a four-step process of cross cultural
management (pp.11). Associating with Wild and Wild’s theory and the situation in the
case, we develop a procedure to manage the barriers.

The first step is to identify the barriers according to the eight components of culture
proposed by Wild and Wild (2012), which are aesthetics, values and attitudes,
manners and customs, social structure, religion, personal, communication, education,
and physical and material environment. In this step, we will find what the barriers are
and how the barriers influence the project. Then we will make evaluation to each
barrier. As mentioned in the previous part (pp.22), each barrier has two dimensions,
impact and probability. This step aims at supporting finding solutions for the barriers.
The third step is finding the solution of each barrier based on the evaluation. In the
43
theory part (pp.13), we have found four basic methods to deal with the barriers:
localization, cultural infiltration, avoiding culture clash and culture complement.
Localization can help the company adapt to the local culture. Cultural infiltration
means using the culture of company to influence the local culture, and then the
conflict could be reduced. When they conflict could not be solved, avoiding culture
clash is the best choose. Culture complement focus on understanding each other, it
can reduce the impact of the barriers caused by cross culture differences. Last is to see
whether the method is useful, or the barrier can be solved. If the answer is yes, the
procedure is complete. But if it is no, we should go back to do reevaluation and find a
new solution.

To summarize the process, the whole procedure for cross cultural management is
shown in figure 5.1.

44
 Figure 5.1 The procedure of cross cultural management

Personnel
communication
Managing barriers caused by cross cultural
differences Value & Attitude

Manners & Customers

If there is barriers in each aspect of culture

Religion

Education
YES
Physical & Material
What are the barrier and its influence? Environment

Evaluation of the barrier

--Impact
--Probability

Solution of the barrier

--Localization
--Culture Assimilator
--Cross Culture Conflict Avoidance
--Acculturation

NO
Whether the method is useful

YES

Complete

Source: Own Construction

45
5.2 Identify barriers caused by cross cultural differences
In the cross-cultural management procedure, the first step, which is also the basic step
for whole issue management, is to find what the barriers caused by cross cultural
differences are. In order to identify the barriers in international construction projects,
we find the barriers according to the eight components proposed by Wild &Wild
(2012). Following we will analysis and discuss the barriers identified through
literature review and interviews.

Language Barrier: According to the literature review (pp.12) and managers’ opinion,
this barrier should be included in personal communication. In international business,
because both sides use the secondary language, how they can understand each other
depends on the ability of using English. Moreover, the workers’ foreign languages are
not as good as managers. That means the barrier could be more serious than we
thought. Although body language could solve a part of barrier, it would cause more
problems. Sometimes different body movements have different meaning in different
cultures.

Engagement: According to the finding and Wild & Wild (2012), engagement is a
reflection of the value and attitude. The locals’ working attitudes always trouble the
company. It brings loss because the locals do not care about the schedule; some of
them even only work few days in one project, much less than demanded. We can find
that foreign employees, for example, Chinese workers in the project, care more about
the schedule compared to locals. However, as referred in the finding, it is hard to hire
more foreign employees. There are two reasons, one is even paid high, the number of
workers who are willing to work overseas is limited; the other is due to the policy,
which ask the company to hire enough local workers. If the company could not solve
this barrier, the schedule would be easy to delay.

Salary: The people think how much salary they should have often depends on their
value attitude. The values between developing and developed countries are greatly
different (Muriithi and Crawford, 2003). Imbalance of economic development will
46
lead to the different salary level among different countries from the interview. The
developing countries’ average salary is usually lower than developed countries. If the
locals’ salary is the same as the companies’ employees, it would be a huge burden of
the company; if the locals’ salary is lower than the companies’ employees, the locals
would think it is too low to work. This barrier could directly influence the emotion of
their employees and indirectly their work efficiency. So this barrier should be
included in value and attitude part.

Business Etiquette: We have found this barrier in literature (pp.16) and findings. The
manners would be influenced by the local culture. According to the interview, the
company has business all over world, and they could find many different and
interesting business etiquette. Business etiquette is a way which local people use to
show their own culture. We could know that the bribery problem is usually terrible in
the developing countries by. Even some officials think it is a reasonable way of
fundraising.

Communication Method: Communication method is different because of the

different manners. According to the theatrical part, different people coming from
different countries have their own communication methods (Wild and Wild, 2012).
Combining the theory and finding, this barrier should be included in manners and
customs. Sometimes the conflict arises just because of the different methods. For
example, as referred previously, Chinese do not like the direct communication but the
Western prefer that.

Leisure Time: According to finding, how to evaluate this barrier depends on the
locals’ life manners (pp.31). In our case study, this barrier is very important in Congo.
However, as Congo used to be a colony of France, Congolese workers reject, even are
adverse to use leisure time for work. Asking Congolese workers to work overtime will
disrupt the relationship with them. But the company would pay for default if project
cannot be finished on time.

47
Working Skill: Working skill could be influenced by education level (pp.31).
International construction needs many skilled workers. Many developing countries
have made great progress in compulsory, but only the compulsory education could not
offer skilled workers (pp.31). The lagging of high education is one of the reasons why
there is lack of skilled workers. In our opinion, another reason may be the average life
span in developing countries is low so the workers have to retired early, their working
living would be much shorter.

Goods and Materials: As we found in previous part, this barrier is a usual problem in
international construction projects because the local countries are usually developing
countries. The poor infrastructure and the lack of the good and materials often bring
lot of trouble and losses in the international construction project (pp.32). The lack of
goods and materials does not only influence the project, but also the daily life of the
employees working overseas. Living for a long time in poorer countries, even the
poorest countries of the world is a challenged for them. There is no doubt that this
barrier is a physical & material environment problem.

Religious Differences: Combing literature review and finding, maybe religious

differences is not the most important but the most dangerous barrier because it can
threat the workers’ lives sometimes. It is worth noting that the company would meet
more problems caused by religious differences in Muslim countries, because there are
too many taboos. Some religious problem also could not be solved by law. Besides,
based on finding, in a country with a variety of religions, the different festivals would
occupy lots of working time (pp.33).

5.3 Evaluation of barriers caused by cross cultural

differences
Combining the finding and the theories, in this part we analyse and discuss why the
barrier is important or not, depending on the impact and probability of each barrier.
The result of this step will directly influence the selection of solutions for each barrier

48
in the next step.

Language Barrier: According to the findings (pp.36), language barrier could be

thought as a high probability but minor impact barrier. In the case company, English is
the second language both for the Chinese employees and locals. That is why the
probability is high in this project. Maybe if the company and the local people use the
same language the probability could be lower, but we have not research it in our study.
Though the probability of the barrier is high, the impact is just minor. It means this
barrier would not take so much extra cost. There is a possible reason that they have
different work to do in the project. They just have to do the work distributed to them.
They do not need too much communication about work. Hence, the language barrier
may cause more problems for workers’ daily life than for work.

Engagement: Through findings (pp.36), it can be known that the probability of

working attitude is middle. The reason is that working attitude of the locals is not
always a problem. Some of them also work hard. According to the questionnaire and
interview, the impact of this barrier is moderated, and the reason is the working
attitude of worker could influence the project directly. Though only a part of locals do
not finish their job well, the schedule would be delayed.

Salary: As we get from findings (pp.37), the probability of this barrier is low and the
impact is also negligible Thanks for the good policy of the case company, it looks like
that salary is not a problem in this project. But it does not mean salary is not a
problem in international construction project. The companies of contactor often come
from the developed countries, but the project is often in the developing countries.
That means average income in the country of project is often lower than the
companies of contactor. How to make the locals accept the different salary is a
problem for many companies. If this problem cannot be solved, it would influence the
emotions of locals and make the schedule delay.

Business Etiquette: The findings show that business etiquette could be thought as a

49
barrier with middle probability and minor impact. In Congo the business etiquette
performs like this in European, except for the bribes. However, business etiquette
varies from country to country. This barrier should depend on which country the
project is in. For example, if the project is in Saudi Arabia, the companies should
study the Muslim business etiquette.

Communication Method: The communication method easily happens between

Chinese employees and locals and the worst result of communication method is strike.
This barrier has a middle probability and a moderate impact. The communication
method is not a serious problem, but it can make the Chinese mangers confused or
feel offended. Though the Chinese managers thought they tried their best, the conflict
caused by the barrier would lead to extra cost.

Leisure Time: This barrier has both a high probability and a critical impact. The
reason of high probability may be the locals do not want to work. They take care of
their leisure time more than their jobs. The leisure time looks like a small problem,
but the impact could not be ignored. It is so serious that the company cannot solve the
problem anyway. But according to the finding, this barrier would not happen in all
countries. So this barrier should not be thought as a serious barrier in all projects. It
depends on the locals’ attitude.

Working Skill: Working skill has a directly connection to the local education level.
The probability of this barrier is high and the impact is also serious. Though the
illiteracy rate of Congo is relatively low in West Africa, skilled local workers are still
rare. The working skill is also a common problem that most of the construction
projects in developing countries have to meet. Due to the poor education, it is hard to
hire skilled local workers. No matter hiring more workers or training locals would
improve the cost. The project even faces the risk of shut down for the lack of skilled
workers. Hence, it is the main barrier which the company worries about.

Goods and Materials: This barrier is the most important in our case company, the

50
probability is high and the impact is critical. This problem also would be met in many
developing countries. But lack of almost all conditions which are needed to complete
project as Congo is unusual. The impact of this barrier should be influenced by the
materials of local.

Religious Differences: For the case company, the religion taboo is not a big problem,
so they only need to solve the problem about religion activities. According to the
findings, the impact of the barrier is moderate even though the probability is high. To
our analysis, the religion should not be ignored. Most of others barriers would not
threat the employees life safety, but religion could. In some areas religion is the
guild-lines beyond the law, so if the company has the projects in these areas it must do
more quantification about religion.

5.4 Solutions for barriers caused by cross cultural

differences

In the theory part (pp.13), we have found four ways to solve barriers caused by cross
cultural differences. They are localization, culture assimilator, cross cultural conflict
avoidance and acculturation. Associating with the situation of international
construction projects, we analysis and discuss the solutions for each barrier based on
our literature review and findings.

Language Barrier: Hiring local manager is a good method as we get from interview
(pp.39). There is not language barrier between local managers and local workers.
Hiring professional translators also could be useful. However, in a project, the number
of manager and translator is limited. Most of staffs are workers. In our opinion
company also can train the Chinese studying about local language simply, which
would not cost too much and be useful. Workers can also use body language when
communicating. As a result, localization is the best way deal with this cross-cultural
barrier. In fact, this barrier could not be avoided but could be controlled.

51
Engagement: According to the interview, the company prefers to hire more skilled
workers to solve this problem, because the skilled workers’ working attitudes are
usually better. Training can also help to build a good working attitude, although the
result is always not satisfactory. In our opinion, perhaps giving the people reward
whose work attitude is good could be a good method. Even though we conclude many
methods to reduce its influence, this barrier still cannot be eliminated completely. The
company should choose the most suitable method considering the situation of certain
project. All the method we focus on change, changing the company or changing the
locals. So culture assimilator and acculturation could be useful to solve the barrier.

Salary: Our case company has a mature method to solve this barrier. They could let
the local employees believe that their salary is fair. Although they know that their
salary is lower, they can accept that Chinese employees’ salary is higher. The locals
can understand why the Chinese get more money because they have to work far away
from their hometown. Another reason should not be ignored is that the salary of locals
whom work in the international construction projects are higher than the local average
(pp.39). This barrier always exists but could be avoid easily.

Business Etiquette: For any company of contactor, adapting local business etiquette
is necessary. According to our interview, business manners is not a serious problem
and easy to be avoided. The real problem is bribery. The solution of our case company
is to accept the asking for bribes of official who could influence project, and reject the
others’ requirement. The company could not solve this barrier completely, but they
can choose culture assimilator and acculturation to avoid culture clash.

Communication Method: Adapting the communication method of local people looks

like a common method. In our opinion this method needs time rather than cost.
According to our case company, creating an advice collected department is useful
(pp.40). It can reduce the directly communication to reduce the conflict, but the
locals’ suggest could be passed to the managers. Both of the two method focus on
culture assimilator.

52
Leisure Time: According to finding, the case company does not find a good method
to solve this barrier, so their method is to accept the barrier (pp.40). In our opinion, it
is a serious problem in our study, but we also can find some methods to solve it. In
fact any problem which can influence the working efficiency could be solved by
hiring more workers, but it will greatly increase the cost. In the construction projects,
usually schedule delay means huge damage of cost. So the best way is to keep a
balance between the cost and the schedule. According to our finding we could know
that the locals have simple lives and there are not too many thing worth to buy in
Congo, Rep. So we also suggest that the company could reward the locals some goods
which are precious or cannot bought in Congo, rather than money for the extra work.
If the locals have the desires to get unusual goods, maybe they would accept the extra
work. Our case company chooses avoiding culture clash, but in our opinion cultural
infiltration also could become important with the project processing.

Working Skill: Hiring skilled workers is the most ideal method but it is not easy to
do in developing countries. Hiring the skilled from the countries of company is hard,
and the company should keep enough local workers due to the policy. Companies can
use the way of centralized training, the employees could have special course to
improve the work skills. Another way is the skilled workers could train the local
workers when they work, the locals could improve their skill when they are working.
In fact, all the solutions look like improving cost and ensuring the schedule. Training
the locals means the company want to change the situation, so in our opinion cultural
assimilator and acculturation are the methods which are used.

Goods and Materials: In our case company, this barrier only could be solving by
increasing the cost (pp.41). In fact if you have money, almost all of materials for
projects could be bought. In our opinion, a company could not change the industrial
base and infrastructure of a country, so it only can pay for more money to avoid this
barrier. In the case, logistic outsourcing is also a useful way to solve this barrier.
Combing our opinion and finding, cross-cultural conflict avoidance could be using to
solve this barrier.
53
 Religious Differences: The religious differences could hardly be solved, so the
company should take ways to avoid possible cultural conflicts caused by these. We
could know that from the finding, training the employees about religion taboo is
necessary (pp.41), because it could reduce the conflict due to the religious differences.
If the locals have any requirement about religion, our case company chooses to accept
it. All in all, company tries its best to avoid this barrier. So the barrier should be
solved by the cross-cultural conflict avoidance.

The barriers caused by cross cultural differences and the solutions of them are
summarized in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 How to deal with the cross cultural barriers

Culture Solutions of
Barrier How to solve the problem
Component Barrier

 Hire professional translators

 Do some simple French and
Personal English training to Chinese
Language Barrier Localization
communication employees
 Use body language when
communicating

Culture
 Hiring skilled workers from China
Assimilator
 Training
Engagement
 Establish punishment and reword
Acculturation policies
Values &
Attitudes
 Give the same base salary to
Chinese employees and local
Culture
Salary employees, then given the travel
Assimilator
allowance to the Chinese
employees

Culture
Business  Learn local business etiquette
Manners & Assimilator
Customs Etiquette
Acculturation  Try to avoid unnecessary bribery
54
  Train workers about the
communication methods of each
Communication Culture other.
Method Assimilator  Set up an advise collection
department in order to reduce direct
communication

Cross Cultural
Conflict  All overtime work is voluntary, and
Leisure Time Avoidance who working overtime will get
extra payment.
Acculturation

Cultural
 Hiring skilled workers from China
Assimilator
 Training
Education Working Skill
 Establish punishment and reword
Acculturation policies

 Buy construction materials with

high price from local or Europe.
 Bring necessary equipment from
Physical & Cross Cultural China
Goods and
Material Conflict  Making construction materials by
Environment Materials Avoidance itself if possible

 Logistics outsourcing
 Buy property insurance

 Give training for employees to

Religious Cross Cultural acknowledge the taboos of different
Religion Conflict religions
Differences Avoidance  Give vacations according to the
religion

Source: Own Construction

55
6. Conclusion:
There are two research questions in our study:

 What are the barriers caused by cross-cultural differences in international

construction projects?
 How to manage the barriers caused by cross-cultural differences in international
construction projects?
To solve the two questions, we choose the mixed-method research, which both
qualitative and quantitative method would be used in our study. The primary data of
the case study would be collected by two methods: interview and questionnaire. Then
we combine the literature and interview to conclude nine mainly barriers, as well as
the evaluations and solutions of these barriers.

6.1 Results & Conclusions

In our study, to verify the result we get from theories, we conduct a case study and get
nine barriers. They are language barrier, business etiquette and religious differences,
engagement, salary, communication method, leisure time, working skill, and goods
and materials. Through reviewing articles on this topic, we summarize three barriers
caused by cross-cultural differences based on the theory of Wild and Wild (2010),
which are language barrier, business etiquette and religious differences. The rest six
barriers are all gotten from interviews.

Besides, to find how to solve the barriers, we find four basic solutions for these
barriers, naming localization, culture assimilator, cross cultural conflict avoidance and
acculturation from the literature review. We summarize the solutions for each barrier
from interviews. Then we evaluate each barrier by questionnaire from two dimensions:
probability and impact. Combing the theory and the finding, we conclude a four-step
process of cross-cultural management. Firstly is to identify the barriers caused by
cross cultural differences. We get nine barriers in our study, which are language
56
barrier, engagement, salary, business etiquette, communication method, leisure time,
working skill, goods and materials, and religious differences. Next step is to evaluate
each barrier. Then we find the proper solution for each barrier according to the
evaluation. The last step is to see if the method is useful or not.

6.2.1Theoretical Significance
Our study has found nine barriers caused by cross cultural differences from the six
components: personal communication, value & attitude, manners & customs,
education, physical & material environment and religion. We conclude the procedure
of cross-cultural management and how to deal with the barriers base of the theoretical
and our findings. In the further research others could do the research as our method.
Besides, we contribute the evaluation for each barrier which has been few done before.
Our research can be used as a reference for the cross-cultural management research in
international contracted projects later on.

6.2.2 Management Implication

It is also useful for the company to do international construction projects. For the
enterprise, they should know where the barrier comes from so that they can find the
way to avoid the barrier. Avoiding the cultural conflict can also help the corporation
keep high efficiency in the daily operation. It can bring huge economic benefits for
the corporation.

In our study, we have created a procedure of cross-cultural management, including

identification, evaluation and solutions for the barriers, which could help the company
to build a complete cross-cultural management system. Besides, we have found some
barrier, made evaluation and figured out relevant solutions for the barriers according
to literature review and the experience of the case company. We suggest that when the
company does an international construction project it could use the procedure of
cross-cultural management which we created. The procedure could help the company
what it should do step by step.

57
6.2.3 Social Implication
Reducing the barrier in cross-cultural management is not only the company’s mission
but also social responsibility. The cross-cultural management also could help the
cultural communication, and it is a method for different cultures to understand each
other. It could enhance the friendship of people who have different cultures. In fact,
international construction project is a method that developed countries help
developing countries to do infrastructure. Reducing the cross-cultural conflict could
help the counties to create a good relationship.

6.3 Further Research

In the further research, more countries could be included in the study. West Africa is
the least developed area in the world, if the companies have projects in some more
developed countries, the conflict which focus on would be changed. And our study
only focus on one company and one county, if there are more companies and more
countries, the result could be more convincing. In the further research, someone could
do a system research of the cross-cultural management in international construction
projects, and then when others do the same research they could have a more mature
framework.

58
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 Appendix I Questionnaire (Chinese)

中机建设集团吉利水厂跨文化问题调查表

1. 你认为当地雇员的工作态度出现问题的可能性?？( 例: 当地人工作比较懒
散 )
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

2. 你认为当地雇员对于时间认知发生问题的可能性？( 例: 当地人非常看重休
息时间)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

67
3. 你认为当地人对于工资问题发生不满的可能性？( 例: 当地人不满意中国员
工和当地员工的工资差异)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响
.
4. 你们遇到商务礼仪等问题的可能性？ ( 例: 当地人非常在乎商务礼仪，并且
以人的穿着和驾驶的座驾的好坏来判断人.)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

5. 你认为当地员工和中方经理在沟通交流上发生问题的可能性 ？( 例: 当地员
工有什么不满都直接报告给经理，并且态度十分激烈)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)

68
 这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

6. 当地的宗教信仰影响项目的可能性？ ( 例: 宗教活动会占用工作时间)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

7. 中方的工人和当地员工发生交流问题的可能性？ ( 例: 中方工人和当地员工
无法因为语言不通造成无法理解相互的意思 )
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

69
8. 当地工人的工作技能影响项目的可能性？ ( 例: 当地工人的工作技能达不到
工程要求造成工程问题)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进步一的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

9. 刚果因为物资匮乏影响到工程的可能性？ ( 例: 工程原料的缺乏导致工程停
止)
A) 低 (低于 10%)
B) 中 (10%~49%)
C) 高 (50% 以上)
这个问题对项目有什么影响？
A) 非常严重的影响，有可能导致项目失败
B) 严重的影响，成本会大量增加/工期会大量延长，会遇见更进一步的要求
C) 中等影响: 成本会增加/工期会延长，会遇见一些重要的要求
D) 轻度影响: 成本会轻微增加/工期会稍微延长
E) 无影响: 不会对工程带来任何负面影响

70
 Appendix II Questionnaire (English)

The questionnaire of barriers caused by cross-cultural differences in Djiri

water plant project of China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc

1. Do you meet any working attitude problem of local employees? (i.e. Local
employees work lax.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

2. Do you meet any time attitude problem of local employees? (i.e. The local people
think rest time is very important.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.

71
 C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

3. Do you meet any salary problem of local employees? (i.e.The salary is different
between local employees and Chinese employees.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

4. Do you meet any business etiquette problem when you did business event? (i.e.
Local people focus on etiquette specially and evaluate people by their clothes and
cars.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
72
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

5. Do you have any communication problem between Chinese managers and local
employees? (i.e. local people have dissatisfaction directly to the managers, and
attitude is very fierce.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

6. If the local religion will influence the project? (i.e. The religion event occupied
work times.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
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 B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

7. Do you have any communication problem with local employees in daily work? (i.e.
The Chinese employees and the local people cannot understanding each other because
of the language problem.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

8. If the skill levels of local workers will affect the project? (i.e. The skill levels of
local workers is unsatisfied leading to the quality problem of project.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
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 A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

9. If the lack of material in Congo have affect the project? (i.e. The lack of material
make the project have to pause.)
A) Low (less 10%)
B) Middle (10%~49%)
C) High (50% or more)
How it can influence the project?
A) Critical: if the barriers event occurs, the program will fail.
B) Serious: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter major
cost/schedule increase, and secondary requirements may not be met.
C) Moderate: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter moderate
cost/schedule increase, and important requirements would still be met.
D) Minor: if the barriers event occurs, the program will encounter small
cost/schedule increase.
E) Negligible: if the barriers event occurs, it will have no effect on the program.

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 Appendix III Interview Questions
(1) 对 CEO 刘先生的采访问题 Questions for CEO, Mr. Liu
1.公司的基本概况？
What’s the basic situation?
2.公司在刚果（布）项目的基本概况？
How is the new release in Congo?
3.今天安排参加视频会议的经理们的概况？
How is it going of the video conference for the managers
4.你对国际承包业务的看法？简要说说合作双方分别能得到什么好处？
What’s your opinion of the international contracting business? What’s benefits can the
cooperators gain in general？

(2)视频会议的提问部分 （这些问题我们向所有经理一起提问，他们会根据自己
是否遇到问题来作答，这部分的回答会专注于研究的项目）
Questions referred in video conference (The questions are prepared for all the
managers and will be answered according to personal situation. And the answers will
focus on the researched items)
1. 是否遇到因为个人交流的跨文化的障碍？例如我们在理论研究中发现会有语
言障碍这个问题
Have you met transnational culture barriers during communication ？ （ Like the
language barriers we have found in our theoretical research）
2. 是否遇到因为习惯和方式上的跨文化的障碍？例如我们在理论研究中发现会
有商务礼仪这个问题
Have you met transnational culture barriers caused by different habits and customs?
（Like the language barriers may happen in commercial social contacts）
3. 是否遇到因为宗教不同的跨文化的障碍？例如我们在理论研究中发现会有宗
教差异这个问题
Have you met transnational culture barriers caused by religious issues ？ （ Like the

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religious differences we have found in our theoretical research）
4. 是否遇到因为艺术品味跨文化的障碍？
Have you met transnational culture barriers caused by differentiated art
appreciation？
5. 是否遇到因为价值和态度上的跨文化的障碍？
Have you met transnational culture barriers caused by different values and attitudes?
6. 是否遇到因为社会结构上的跨文化的障碍？
Have you met transnational culture barriers caused by different social structure？
7. 是否遇到因为教育上的跨文化的障碍？
Have you met transnational culture barriers influenced by education issue?
8.是否遇到因为物理环境或者物资环境的跨文化的障碍？
Have you met transnational culture barriers influenced by surrounding physical and
fiscal environment?

(3)自由讨论部分主要是以经理们在上一部分回答的所遇到的障碍的基础上，进
一步的讨论每种障碍对于项目的影响以及公司在本项目的解决方法。这部分的讨
论不只是专注于研究的项目，经理们可以更多的发表自己在多个项目中总结的解
决方案。
In the free talk stage, discussion will be further developed based on previous
managers’ answers to the barriers they have met and the influence and solutions for
this research will be completed. For this part, the highlights will not merely be the
researched items, but more available measures can be raised by the managers.

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